ALBUM REVIEW: EQUINOX – The Pleasure Dome
Debut albums are tricky things. Suddenly writing a full-length album is a step up from releasing a few EPs. Fortunately, Bristol rockers The Pleasure Dome have had no trouble with this and they prove it with their debut LP, EQUINOX.
Pass The Parcel kicks off the album and with a heavy bass line it demands attention. It’s not overly complex but that doesn’t take away from the blistering guitar parts in the chorus. It has a perfect 90s grungy sound as if it knows exactly what it is right from the get-go. Leading into Down The Alley it keeps up the whole reckless garage rock sound these guys have managed to cross with grunge and punk and the results are just fantastic. Track three – Love Is Dead – shows a little more technicality but not too much to distract from the fact that these guys seem to be just having fun with it and what more could anyone ask for? It’s heavy and the vocals are low and less singing and a little more just stream of consciousness. Soaring vocals in the chorus elevate the song further and create a perfect contrast to each part of the track.
Psychodrama sounds like the most NIRVANA-inspired track, but that comparison seems too easy plus it’s not fair as they’re not a carbon copy despite also being a three-piece. What they have is some really interesting and catchy songwriting techniques that employ a lot more effects and so create a much thicker sound. This track also wanders into screamo territory and it only gets better from there. What A Shame (Cocaine) is a slight change of pace. Using only strings, light drums and vocals for most of the track, it’s much slower and a lot rawer. It could be described as being about drugs but of course ‘cocaine’ could easily be a metaphor here. It’s great how the song builds as it goes on. It sounds a little like THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN but with fewer effects and it’s pretty great.
Boiler Room comes in hot and heavy and keeps it up with the low vocals and it is very bass-led. However, this changes in the chorus with a screamed vocal part that is just blisteringly cool. This is one to just scream along to, just a hell of a good time. Then, slowing things down, On The Beaches is a more chilled-out track. The vocals are low and not too complex and it’s led mostly with single guitar strums conjuring images of beaches throughout all seasons with a light feel. It’s a real change from previous tracks and really just creates some breathing room so that it doesn’t all get too full on.
Insane is more or less what it says on the tin. It seems pretty subtle to begin with until it really kicks in and opens up the throttle. It’s a fast track and it’s got some really great guitar lines and super tight percussion parts that seem to hold everything together. The vocals are about being insane for wanting to be themselves which is so punk. Have You Ever Been In Love boasts some great effects and still keeps the DIY punk feel these guys seem to have crafted their own brand of. The vocals soar more in this track than in others and feel more liberated than they do on the rest of the record. There’s a lot going on in this track and it’s easy to forget there are only three of them. Strained vocals and a flourish end this track.
No Guts No Fame is the final track on the album and standing at almost 10 minutes long expectations are high. It starts with just vocals and an acoustic guitar. The vocals aren’t that melodic but that adds to the overall downbeat feel created. Then another song seems to start within the same track. This one is heavier and shows heavy guitar work and a range of vocals which is just showing off at this point. It’s more simplistic in sound even though it uses a lot more instruments than the previous track. After this, THE PLEASURE DOME go into another track that sounds like their perfect signature sound. It’s fast and it’s a lot of fun with powerful vocals and great instrumental work and it feels like a culmination of what the band are capable of as they blend genres and change it up.
EQUINOX is the kind of album where it’s hard to pinpoint what genre THE PLEASURE DOME are as it seems to blend grunge, punk, rock, indie and more. But what this album is, is one hell of a great debut. It’s an album that says listen up because these guys are going to go far, which is completely true if they keep churning out records that sound like this.
Rating: 7/10
EQUINOX is set for release on September 22nd via Hound Gawd! Records.
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